Closure for fuel tanks



Patented Mar. 30, 1926.`

y stares Application filed septemberezieaa semina. 665,120;

To alli whom may concern p f Be it' known thatI, HARRY lVoncEsTnn SMITH, aV citizen of the United States, re-

I 'siding at North Grafton, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massacliusetts,vf have invented? av new and useful Improvement m a'Closurefor Fuel Tanks,

off which the following, together with the accompanying drawings,`is a specification. My invention relates to a closurey for fuel ltanks, such as are carried by motor vehiclosures have been Vemployed,embodying a' clamping or locking device, but even these cles for the" retentionof gasolene' or other The object ofv my invention is to provide an improved`1v closure wh1ch,g1nv one position,

will effectively seal' the; opening of the tank,

and which, in anotherv position, will luncover-the opening so that the tank maybe filled, the-closure being ,permanently attached tothe tank."v e c A The'l most lusual and well known form vof closure 'for fuel tanks is the screw cap which,

while entirely effective in sealing theta-nk,`

is open to the-:serious Aobjection that itffinust be entirely removeditherefrom when it is desired to iill the tank.l lessoperators at filling stations-often neglectV to screw the cap? on again! after fillingthe tank, with the resultthat the cap is lost and a great annoyance caused to the driver of the vehicle. Various `other forms of closures are open to the objection that they require `some .manipulation in order Yto effectively seal the tank opening.

According to the present invention I pro'- vide a tank vrclosure which is characterized by the fact that it is permanently attached to the tank and so cannot be lost, and that it may be readily moved from an open to a closed position by the application of a slight force that may be conveniently applied by the metallic nozzle of the hose, with which most filling stations are equipped. The above and other advantageous features ofmy invention will hereinafter more fully appear, reference vbeing had to the accompanying drawings in which Y Fig. l is a view .in front elevation, showing a portion of a fuel tank with my improved closure attached thereto. v

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionalview along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. l. Y .l

Consequently, care- Like reference characters 'refer- .to like parts in thediiferent figures; v

Referring to the drawings,v a portion'of, a y fuelV tank-1sy indicated atV l! andv provided with'y an upwardly extending.*cylindrical` i flange, the'upperflendof whichlis open for 'I the entrance' of' fuel into'the tank l. :The

flangeV` 2 may be A'located atany desired por-- arms 4L', by means of' which it is: pivotaill'y mounted on- 'pinsl5j projecting from the flange 2. The upperend of' the sliellf, is closed,whileitslower end is somewhat constricted, .as'pindicated-v at 6, to retain afball 7 yond 'the lower end ofi' the'A shell." 3i f Inthe' fullE line YVposition of Athe closure', the y projecting,portion* of the balli seated in the' openfe'ndf of: `the "flange "2,5 and# is'held lrmly'iiifposition by the vspring8"?,tofeff`ecv tively seal the opening( to the tank. y The pressure of the` spring 8 issuiiilcient to maintainithe ball?" vin this position,` so fthatthe@` y vibrations attendant the running ofthe lve- 1` hicle over rough roads, lwill not unseatthe ball 7, and permit fuel to escape from the tank.

The topv of the shell iis providedgwithl a lug 9,-the sides of which are concave and have about the same radiusof curvature as the metal nozzles commonly provided on the hose of filling stations. When it vis desired pivot pins 5.V The resulting force yexerted on the ball 7f by the rim of the flange 2 overcomes vthe pressure ofthe spring 8 and causes the ball 7 to be forced upwardly into the shell 3 enough to clear the flange 2, thus exposing the open end of the same.

y Then the closure is thus'moved from its. .vertical position, the ball 7 is adapted to be 4received in a concave seat l() rovidedpin a -wing 1l projecting from the ange 2. The

closure then occupies the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and it is apparent that the spring 8 will then act to retain the ball 7` in the seat 10 in thesame manner as it originally maintained the ball in the fuel opening. In this position ofthe closure, the fuel'opening is entirely uncovered, so that the tank may be readily filled, after which, all that is necessaryto close the fuel opening, is for the Person who has filled the tank to return the elo-sure to a vertical position by a single blow.

In order .to prevent the seat l0y from becoming covered with dirt, which might be carried into the tank, a shieldflQ is provided on the shell 3, which shield covers the seat lO when the closure is in a vertical position.

From the foregoing it is apparent that by my invention I have provided an improved closure for fuel tanks, whichis adapted to bev yieldingly maintained in either an open or closed'position, so that the closure may be moved from one position to another by the striking of a light blow. The force necessary to move the closure need not be very great, by reason of the fact that it is applied through a relatively long lever arm, the force exerted by the spring 8 being just sufficient to hold the ball seated in either position against ordinary vibrations. It is obvious thatv the closure cannot be lost or even readily removed from the tank, and that the 'eort required to move the closure to seal the tank after Vbeing filled, is so slight as to insure that the tank will not be accidentally left open. When my closure is applied to a vspherical member.

said. spherical member when the closure f 'mechanism is in the open position, a concave seat on said flange, and a second flange on the hollow member adapted to cover. said first named flange when the closure mechanism is inthe closed position.

2. In a closure mechanism member provided with an orifice, 'a hollow member pivotally attached to said first member, a spherical member in said hollow member, means retaining said spherical member at least partially in said hollow member, resilient means tending to press said rspherical member out of said hollow member, aV

flange on said first named member to refor tanks, aH

eeive said spherical member when they clof sure v1s in open position, andacooperating flange on the hollow member adapted to cover said first named flange when the closure'member is in the closed position and to serve as` a stop to-limit the opening movement of the saidv hollow member with the HARRY WORCESTER sMrrH.V 

